Clip for mechanical pencils, fountain pens, and the like



E. PETAU 2,276,513

FOUNTAIN PENS AND THE LIKE March 17, 1942.

CLIP FOR MECHANICAL PENCILS,

Filed Julyso. 1940 Patented Mar. 17, 1942 CLIP FOR MECHANICAL PENCILS, FOUNTAIN PEN S, AND THE LIKE Erik Petau, Chicago, Ht, assignor to Autopoint Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application luiy 30, 1940, Serial No. 348,418

12 Claims.

This invention relates to a clip for mechanical pencils, fountain pens and the like, and more particularly to such clip possessing ornamental beauty, and being economical, strong and easy to apply without chipping or breaking off pieces of the pen or pencil barrel to which it is applied, in cases where such barrel may be of more or less brittle material.

Among the objects of this invention is to provide a mechanical pencil'or fountain pen clip that may be stamped from flat material and then easily bent into the required shape, and secured to the barrel of a mechanical pencil, or to the barrel or cap of a fountain pen with the minimum of eiiort and time.

A further object is to provide such clip that may be stamped out flat with integral side projections or prongs that may be bent inwardly into parallel angular position to extend transversely of the clip, and then bent upwardly at substantially right angles to the body of the clip.

Another object is to provide a clip of the character described having a prong bent at right angles to the clip at one end, and a pair of closely adjacent prongs spaced from the first mentioned prongs, to be inserted into a pair of spaced apertures in the barrel, and one or both of the pair of prongs bent over within the barrel.

A still further object is to provide a clip of the character described that is economical to manufacture, pleasing in appearance, structurally strong but pleasingly slim in contour, and easy and quick to apply.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities will later become more readily apparent.

The invention further resides in the combination, construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and while there are shown therein preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the same are susceptible of modification and change without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an enlarged side elevation of a mechanical pencil having attached thereto a clip embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary face view of the upper end of a clip blank before being bent.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective View of the upper end of a clip after being bent r but with the side prongs still spaced apart.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary rear View of the upper end or head of my clip showing one of the side prongs bent inwardly along an angular line to occupy a position in a plane at ninety degrees to the plane of the side flange, and the other prong still unbent.

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 4 but showing the side prongs after both being bent inwardly to overlap in substantial registry, and then bent to extend at right angles to the body of the clip.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the upper end of my clip in the condition shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal- Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective enlarged view of the head of the clip of Fig. 8 showing the same bent into final form and ready to be applied to the barrel or cap of a mechanical pencil or fountain pen.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary section of a portion of the barrel or cap of a mechanical pencil or fountain pen with the upper end or head of the clip secured thereon.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, my improved clip comprises a resilient arm or bar I having a ball 2 formed thereon of any desirable shape and construction but which is, together with the remainder of the clip, preferably made from a flat stamping the upper end of which is shown in Fig. 2. This stamping comprises the oppositely extending angular tapered prongs 3 and 4 which are of equal length and symmetrical with relation to the longitudinal center line of the flat clip blank. At the extreme upper end of the clip blank is a prong 5, theprcngs 3, 4 and 5 being of any desired width, but preferably of suflicient width to afiord ample strength when applied to the barrel. These prongs or arms in the blank lie within the plane of the blank. As seen in Fig. 3 the blank is bent in any suitable die or former to form a head and bring the prongs 3, 4 and 5 and the edges 6 and 1 into the shape and form shown in Fig. 3, the dotted lines a in Fig. 2 also indicating the positions these prongs and edges take after being bent.

From the position shown in Fig. 3, the tapered prongs 3 and 4 are next bent along the lines 0 one at a time into the position shown for prong 3 in Fig. 4, 'so that the prongs flatly contact each other in an angular transverse plane. It will be understood in Fig. 4 that only one of the prongs '(3) has been bent inwardly along the angular line 0, but that as soon as one of the prongs (either 3 or 4) is thus bent inwardly, the other one will be similarly bent inwardly to substantially register with the one first bent. This places the prongs 3 and 4 one over the other in contacting relation and with their angularly extending planes positioned transversely to the body of the clip. It is not necessary that prongs 3 and 4 when bent inwardly as suggested in Fig. 4, exactly register, as their tapering sides give some leeway in this regard without unduly clashing with the sides of the opening 9 in the barrel. Prongs 3 and 4 are next bent along the line e to bring them substantially at right angles to the body of the clip as shown in Figs. and 6. In the hollow wall of the pencil, pen and the like are openings 8 and 9 of a suitable size to permit the prongs 5 and the combined prongs 3-4 to respectively pass thereinto a suificient distance to bring the inner edges of the flanges 6 and I to contact the outer face of the barrel 10. These prongs 3 and 4 are preferably of greater length than the prongs 5 and hence protrude a greater distance into the hollow or bore of the barrel. With the inner edges of the flanges 6 and 1 in contact with the barrel a ram or arbor is then inserted into the hollow of the barrel to bend the combined ends Hl2 of the prongs 3-4 over against the inner face of the inside of the hollow barrel (or cap, depending upon the structure of the mechanical pencil or fountain pen). The end of the prong 5 may at the same time be bent over inside of the barrel as shown in Fig. '7. It is not necessary, however, that the arm 5 be longer than hole 8, as the crimping or bending over of the combined prongs 3 and 4 alone will be sufficient to hold the clip in place in operative position. This support is strengthened by reason of the prongs 3 and 4 being combined and bent over, inside the barrel, together as a unit.

In the form shown in Figs. 8-11, the shape of the prongs 3, 4 and 5 projecting outwardly from the blank is slightly different from the preceding form. The prong 3' in Fig. 8 is similar to the prong 3 in Fig. 2 except for the former being somewhat wider and contoured slightly different. The prong 4 of Fig. 8 differs from prong 4 of Fig. 2 by having the wider end portions l3 and being contoured slightly different. The prong 5 in Fig. 8 is both wider and shorter than the prong 5 in Fig. 2. The blank shown in Fig. 8 is (after the prongs 5' and 4' have been bent to circular formation) in a manner similar to that already described in connection with Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6, bent in any suitable number of steps desired to form shown in Fig. 10 to provide a head having the flanges B, I, the circularly curved prong 5, which is somewhat less than half a circle, the circularly curved prong 4 and the fiat prong 3. either before or after being bent from the flat blank, the prongs 5' and 4 are bent into the circular form shown in Figs. 9 and 10. In the final form after the bending of prongs 3-4,

the edges of prong 4', which have been bent into a curve somewhat less than half a circle, will rest against the flat prong 3' as seen in Fig. 9. This causes the curved prong 4' to closely contact the side of opening 9' and thus give a good support to prong 3' and prevent breaking of the material It is also pointed out that Lil of the barrel while clinching the end of prong 3 within the barrel. After the bending operation prong 5' will be in the same form shown in Fig. 10 to give further rigidity of the mounting of the clip with relation to the barrel.

The barrel (or cap, depending upon the nature of the article to which the clip is attached) I0 is formed with two spaced circular openings 8 and 9 into which the prong 5 and the combined prong 34 are inserted until the free edges of the flanges .6-'|' contact the outer face of the barrel, after which an arbor or ram of the proper size is inserted into the bore of the barrel to bend over or clinch the free end of the prong 3' against the inner face of the barrel. As will be noted in Figs. 9, 10 and 11 the outer circular face of prong 5 preferably contacts the adjacent face of opening 8 at the upper side and the outer circular face of prong 4' contacts the adjacent face of opening 9 at the lower side.

As seen in Fig. 8 the prong 3 is somewhat tapered to insure it being readily inserted in opening 9 regardless of whether or not its edges are properly approximately in registry with the adjacent edges of prong 4'. Prongs 3 and 4 of Figs. 2-6 are likewise similarly tapered for a similar purpose, so that certain leeway is provided to permit the edges of the last mentioned prongs to overlap each other a small amount and yet enable these prongs after being twisted to be easily inserted in opening 9 in spite of such overlapping.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A clip for a mechanical pencil, fountain pen and the like, comprising a head having two spaced apart prongs, one of said prongs being of single thickness and the other prong comprising two parts in overlapping relation and lying side by side in such a way as to enable inserting said two overlapping parts into one round hole as a unit.

2. A clip for a mechanical pencil, fountain pen and the like, comprising a head having two spaced apart prongs, one of said prongs being of single thickness and the other prong comprising two parts in overlapping relation and lying side by side, to enable inserting them as a unit into one round hole, the two-part prong having its free end bent laterally into contact with the interior of the pencil, pen and the like to fasten the clip in place.

3. A clip for a mechanical pencil, fountain pen and the like, and adapted to be secured to the barrel or the like thereof, comprising a head having an end prong and a pair of side prongs, the side prongs overlapping each other in parallel relation, said prongs being adapted to extendthrough openings in the barrel or the like and be securely held therein.

4. A clip adapted to be secured to a hollow portion of a mechanical pencil, fountain pen and the like, and comprising a head having three prongs, two of said prongs contacting with each other in face to face contact in overlapping relation and being positioned at an angle of ninety degrees to the longitudinal axis of the clip.

5. A clip adapted to be secured to a hollow portion of a mechanical pencil, fountain pen and the like, and comprising a head having three prongs, one of said prongs standing alone, and the other two overlapping each other in face to face contact at a ninety degree angle with the longitudinal axis of the clip in a plane extending crosswise of said axis.

6. A clip adapted to be secured to a hollow por tion of a mechanical pencil, fountain pen and the like, comprising a resilient arm having a ball at one end and a head at the other, the head having a pair of longitudinally extending side flanges and an end flange, a prong integral with each of the said side flanges, a prong integral with the end flange, each of the side flange prongs being in face to face contact with each other and extending in a plane transversely of the clip.

7. A clip adapted to be secured to a hollow portion of a mechanical pencil, fountain pen and the like, comprising a resilient arm having a ball at one end, and a head at the other, the

head having a longitudinal flange on each of its two longitudinal sides and a transverse flange on its free end, said last mentioned flange having a curved prong thereon, each of the longitudinal flanges having a prong thereon, one of the last mentioned prongs being of curved lateral cross section, said prongs on the longitudinal flanges extending transversely of the head with the edges of the curved one thereof contacting the flat face of the other one thereof.

8. A clip for a mechanical pencil, fountain pen and the like, comprising a resilient arm hav ing a ball at one end and a head at the other, and three prongs on said head, one of said prongs being of curved cross section transversely of its length, the other two prongs being in contact with each other and positioned at the opposite end of the head, one of the last mentioned two prongs being flat and the other being of curved cross section with its edges contacting the flat prong, and distributing the clinching strain over a wide area.

9. A clip for a mechanical pencil, fountain pen and the like, comprising a resilient arm having a ball at one end and a head at the other, and three prongs on said head, one of said prongs being of curved cross section transversely of its length, the other two prongs being in contact with each other and positioned at the opposite end of the head, one of the last mentioned two prongs being flat and the other being of curved cross section with its edges contacting the flat prong and distributing the clinching strain over a wide area, the flat prong being longer than the adjacent curved one so that said longer part may be crimped against the inner face of a hollow part of said pencil, pen and the like.

10. In a mechanical pencil, fountain pen and the like, a clip having a head formed along each of its longitudinal sides with a flange, and a flange at its end, a prong on the end flange extending transversely of the head, a prong on each of the side flanges having its base end extending longitudinally of the head and its end portion extending transversely of the head, the free end portions of the side flange prongs occupying a position at right angles to the head and extending through openings in the pencil, pen and the like and having clinched ends therein.

11. In a clip for a mechanical pencil, fountain pen and th like, a head having side and end flanges, a prong on the end flange Whose plane extends transversely of the head, a pair of prongs on the side flanges Whose base portions extend longitudinally of the head, the prongs of said pair occupy a position transversely of the head, said prongs being adapted to occupying a clinched over position against the inner face of a hollow portion of the pencil, pen and the like.-

12. In a clipfor a mechanical pencil, fountain pen and the like, a head having-a prong at one end, and at the other end a pair of contacting prongs standing at an angle of ninety degrees with the longitudinal axis of the clip, whereby said pair of prongs contact each other and extend transversely of the head, so that said end prong and said pair of prongs may be inserted into spaced openings in a hollow portion of the pencil, pen and the like and occupy a clinched over position therein, said pair of prongs being tapered along their side edges.

ERIK PETAU. 

